Add to that a craft distillery featuring award-winning whisky, a craft brewery, plus tasting rooms, and the amount of determination required is phenomenal. This grit is exactly what The Heke owners have in spades.
It all started when renowned surgeon Mark Izzard founded Waiheke Whisky along with best mate and beekeeper, Ricky Evatt way back in 2009. They began by distilling honey for mead, which evolved into making whisky, inspired by Mark’s shared experiences with his dad – both lovers of a single malt. At that point, Waiheke was a weekend destination and side project for the duo.
Fast forward to 2019, when Mark’s powerhouse wife Ro was recovering from ovarian cancer. With great good luck and enormous strength, Ro made it through the traumatising experience of chemotherapy and survived this brutal form of the disease. In the wake of this, the couple decided to move permanently to the island where they
